How to Train Your Yami
by smutdouble
Summary: When an infamously troublesome yami finally pushes his hikari's last button, his whole world gets flipped upside down. Featuring Dom-Ryou.
1. Chapter 1: Shadow

**Author's note: The story Destroyer inspired me to play around a little with Dom-Ryou. It's just another stream of consciousness thing that I'll add stuff to as inspiration strikes me. It's going to be a slower burn than Hikari Menagerie, but it will get smuttier later.**

Marik hadn't let go of my hand since we left the house. I didn't know what he thought he was trying to accomplish. It wouldn't stop me from leaving if I wanted to. According to Marik, the door he was beating with the side of his fist was Ryou's apartment. I'd always wanted to know where the little white rabbit lived. So I waited. Of my own volition.

I felt a surge of irritated disappointment when a different albino opened the door. Decidedly _not_ Ryou.

"Oh, hey, Bakura," Marik said. "I haven't seen you since tabletop night at the game shop."

I leaned to look past him, but all I could see was an empty living room. Very neat. Much neater than Marik's house. I wrinkled my nose and looked at Bakura again. He watched me sideways. Warily, but not fearfully.

"Yeah, I've been busy," Bakura said. "L- Ryou's been helping me write a Monster World module. He thinks it could be good enough to publish if we can get all of the details worked out."

Marik's voice brightened. "That would be so cool! I wish-" He stopped and frowned at me. "I can't wait to see it," Marik finally said. "Speaking of Ryou, though, is he home? I really need to talk to him."

"Is he expecting you?" Bakura asked.

"I texted him before I left my house, but he hasn't responded."

Bakura nodded. "He doesn't like to be disturbed when he's working. He probably has his phone on silent."

"It's really, _really_ , important, Bakura."

Bakura finally stopped watching me to focus on Marik. Marik had his desperate face on. I knew that face. I wondered if he realized how pathetic it looked.

Bakura sighed and pulled out his phone. He tapped and swiped and tapped some more. I didn't have to wait. I could shove past him and find Ryou myself. If he was in there. I shifted, flexing my fingers in Marik's grip. Marik gave me that look, now. That desperate look. That frustrated look.

"He says he needs five minutes, but you can wait inside." Bakura almost glared at me.

I grinned at Bakura as I allowed Marik to lead me inside, twisting my body to jostle him with my shoulder as I passed. Marik toed off his shoes. He didn't stop me when I broke away to look around the living room. I could see clearly into the kitchen from there. The counters and sink were as empty and spotless as the living room. It made me edgy. The stark, neatness of it all. It wasn't natural and it wasn't sustainable. It made we want to rip the TV off the wall.

Bakura cleared his throat. I frowned over my shoulder at him, followed his gaze to my shoes, and then raised an eyebrow at him.

Marik shoved his bangs behind his ear. "Just do it," he grumbled.

"Do what?" I asked.

"You know what." Marik huffed wearily. "Why is _everything_ an argument? At _least_ tell me that much."

He didn't need me to tell him, though. I could tell from the exhausted frustration on his face. He knew I liked watching him struggle. He knew he was powerless to make me do anything. Little fool.

Marik gave Bakura an apologetic look. The albino scowled at me. Hard this time. My shoulders tensed. Would he make something of it? _Oh, please, make something of it, fluffy. Show me those claws. I want to break them off._

Bakura sized me up. I could see the calculations running through his eyes. "Why is he here?" He asked Marik coldly.

Marik crossed his arms. "I couldn't leave him at home."

I chuckled. "I'm sure baldy will get over it." What's one more scar on his face, anyway? He shouldn't have stuck his nose in my business if he didn't want to get bitten.

Marik's face twisted into something sour as his eyes darted around the apartment.

Bakura wrinkled his nose at me. "Why does he smell like a pickled corpse?"

There it was. The fight. I'd been worried he'd lost it somewhere. I squared my shoulders and stalked over to him. Leaning down, relishing the ill-concealed flinch as my breath washed over his face. "Why do you smell like a garden?"

"Because I'm not a disgusting barbarian." Bakura planted a hand on my chest, forcing me back a step.

I retaliated with two forceful steps forward. Oh, the thrill I felt when Bakura stumbled back against the closed door. All of them, frail lambs. Wonderful. Perhaps this tedious diversion would prove interesting after all. Perhaps I would come back for Ryou later. See what sort of reactions I could get from him. For now, however, I'd made my point. I plopped on the couch, propping my shoes up on the coffee table.

Marik had his face in his hands. Before anyone else could move, a door off the dining area opened.

"Pardon the delay, Marik." Ryou bowed.

He turned to me. His polite smile flickered ever so slightly. Too quickly for me to discern the emotion that almost replaced it.

"Oh, dear, I'm afraid I never learned your name." Ryou bowed anyway. "I'm-"

"Bakura Ryou." I grinned. "I know." So proper. So reserved. I'd always wanted to see if the little thing even could scream. Wondered how he'd blush if I held him down and whispered lewd promises in his polite little ears. Wondered how he'd gasp and cringe if I followed through on those promises. Him and Yugi both. Far too enticingly innocent for their own good.

Marik interrupted our staring contest. "Ryou. I need to talk to you. Urgently." He cast a glance at me. "Privately, if possible."

"Of course. We can talk in my office." He opened the door he'd just come out of. "Make sure our other guest stays entertained, would you, Spirit?"

Bakura clasped his hands in front of him and lowered his head. Glaring at me through his wild hair. "Yes, Landlord."

Ryou ushered Marik inside and closed the door. Bakura sat in an armchair, with his feet tucked underneath him. We stared at each other in total silence. No ticking clocks. No traffic from outside. It made my skin itch. "Aren't you supposed to be entertaining me?"

"How about a staring contest?" Bakura said dryly.

I licked my teeth and bounced my foot. It bumped something. The neat stack of magazines in the center of the table. Not so neat anymore. I shoved at it with my heal, on purpose this time, watching them glide out of alignment with a satisfying _swish._

"Seriously." Bakura's brow crinkled.

"I'm bored."

"You're a child."

"You're boring. What happened to you? Texting Ryou for permission to let us inside? And what was with that 'yes, Landlord' shit? The old Bakura would've told him to entertain his own damn guests."

Bakura pressed his lips together. "Living with L- Ryou has taught me the benefits of structure and organization. It's..." He snorted and smirked. "Well, nothing you'd understand. I'm happy. That's all that matters."

I glanced at the closed door again. Happy? How could Bakura be... I chuckled. "Ah. I see. You're fucking him. Naughty little bunny. Didn't think he'd have it in him."

Bakura's mouth tightened as his eyes narrowed. "Shut up."

I grinned, putting my feet on the floor so I could lean forward. "Come on, Kura," I whispered. "What's he like? Is he as timid between the sheets as he is fully clothed?"

Bakura's brow wrinkled as he eyed me. "What are you getting at?"

I leaned back. "Fine. Don't tell me. It would be more fun to find out myself, anyway."

I expected Bakura to get angry. Threaten me for threatening his precious little angel. I didn't expect him to laugh.

"If the gods favor me at all, you will," Bakura grinned a more devilish grin than I'd seen on his face in a while.

I frowned. I didn't like this. It felt like some kind of mind game. I didn't like those. Not when I wasn't the one playing them. "You think I'm joking?"

"I hope not. I think I'd pay to watch you find out exactly what he's like in bed."

I narrowed my eyes. If there was a trick, I decided I didn't care. I could take either of them. Both of them. So I laughed instead. "I never pegged you for a voyeur."

Bakura smirked as he twirled his finger in his hair. "Mm."

Silence descended again. It rang in my ears. A rushing whine. I clicked my teeth, trying to drown it out. I wondered why we were here. What the pair of lambs were doing. Lost myself in a meandering train of dashing thoughts and snippets of fantasy. I don't know how long it took them, but it felt like forever before the door finally opened.

My eyes latched onto Marik immediately. "You two done making out?"

Marik ignored me, as he often did when he knew I was trying to annoy him. I watched him step into his shoes.

"Leaving already? Bakura and I were just starting to have fun. Weren't we, Kura?"

"Mm," Bakura mumbled, absorbed in something on his phone.

Ryou put a hand on Marik's shoulder. "I'll text you later, okay?"

Marik nodded as he put his hand on the door knob. He never spared me a second glance. I never even got to see his face before he darted out the door. I paused, confused. He almost never took me out of the house. He definitely didn't take me out of the house and leave me places.

He had a point to prove. That must be it. He wanted to... make me miss him, or something. Ha! The joke was on him, wasn't it. I was unguiltable. Unmovable. All he'd done was leave me alone with his frail little friend, and a yami that may have been more sadistic than I gave him credit for. And when I was good and ready to come home, I would. I could. March home, bust in a window, and laugh as I told him exactly why his pathetic plans would never-

The sound of Ryou clearing his throat interrupted my thoughts. He stood in front of the TV, arms crossed. "Seeing as you have become more than a temporary guest, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to start following a few rules," Ryou said.

I stared at him. More than a temporary... "What?" I asked.

"Your shoes," Ryou said. "I must insist you take them off." He frowned. "And if you'll pardon some bluntness, when was the last time you had a shower?"

"What the fuck?" I struggled to wrap my head around the new turn of events. Marik had just... left me here? For how long? And what the hell was with the white rabbit's change in demeanor?

Ryou sighed and shook his head. "I understand that this is very confusing. You're probably angry, maybe even sad. It's okay. I'm willing to work with you to make sure you're comfortable. But before we get into any more details, I must insist that you take a shower. Or a bath. Come to think of it, a bath could be very relaxing." His face brightened. "And by the time you're done, Bakura can have some nice, clean clothes ready for you. How does that sound?"

"Condescending as fuck," I growled as I stood up.

Ryou cocked his head, infuriatingly calm. "I know a few things about you. Not a lot, but a few. I'm giving you a chance to prove that you can act like a civilized human being. If you insist on acting like an animal, I have no problem treating you like one."

I clenched my fists, glaring the smug little prick down. "You don't know shit! If you knew anything, you'd think twice before threatening me!"

"Oh. Are you going to bite my face, too?"

He wasn't scared. Not even intimidated. I'd show him. Before the evening was over, I would see what pain and panic looked like on that soft little face. "You'll wish that's all I did." I lunged for him, kicking off the coffee table with one foot.

Ryou's hand flashed toward me. I thought he was going to shove me away, but I was not ready for the hot punch to the gut. My legs locked, and then I suddenly found myself on the ground staring up at him. At the live taser sparking in his hand.

"So you've made your choice," Ryou said. Then he smiled. "That's okay. I think this will be a lot more fun for all of us in the end."

I hate puns. I really do, but I have to say I was shocked. No one in Marik's household had ever used physical punishment. Not since... well, _him,_ obviously. Because of him... I guess I'd always known that on some level. Noticed it. But this was the first time I realized how much advantage I'd taken of it. I growled. _Fuck this._ I wasn't afraid of pain. I was made from pain. If this little shit thought he could-

My attempt to stand up was wordlessly denied by another jolt of electricity. A longer one. And I couldn't move. I couldn't fucking move until it stopped.

"Stay down," Ryou said. "You haven't earned the privileged of standing up yet." Ryou finally acknowledged Bakura and his shit-eating grin. "Spirit, get the handcuffs from my dresser, please. The metal ones."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I demanded.

Ryou didn't answer. When Bakura returned with the cuffs, I pushed him away, but the psycho little rabbit just shocked me again. Forced me to the ground and kept me there until Bakura finished securing my hands behind me.

"There. That should make him more manageable." Ryou smiled and kissed Bakura on the head. "I want him washed and at the table by dinner time. You have permission to use whatever level of force is necessary. I trust your judgment."

Bakura frowned as he watched Ryou head toward the office. "Er... Landlord..."

"Yes?" Ryou looked over his shoulder.

"Is he... Does he really live here now?"

"Of course," Ryou answered brightly. "He doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"Is Marik okay? What was the emergency?"

"Marik is fine," Ryou assured. "At least, he will be. I'll tell you all about the conversation at dinner, okay?"

And with that, the little white not-so-rabbit disappeared into his office.


	2. Chapter 2: Shadow

Bakura sat on my back and crossed his arms. "I don't suppose there's any way you'll crawl quietly to the bathroom for me," he huffed.

I tossed a shoulder. Bakura braced his feet on the carpet to keep from falling off. He straddled me and plopped his butt between my shoulder blades. His hands reached under me to find my belt buckle. I kicked back at his head, but he caught my ankle. Somehow despite all the struggling, he managed to pry my belt open with one hand. I pressed my stomach into the carpet. If he wanted to undress me, I was not going to make it easy.

He looped my belt around my ankles and yanked it tight, pulling my feet toward him so he could pry off my shoes. Clever bastard. Not clever enough. His feet were at either side of my shoulders. I twisted my head and bit one of them. Bakura's curse was music to my ears. He retaliated by grabbing my hair and cramming my socks into my mouth. I tried and failed to pry them out of my cheeks with my tongue.

Apparently giving up on undressing me, Bakura hooked is arms under mine and dragged me kicking and growling into the bathroom. He rolled me into the bathtub on my stomach. By the time I rolled over and sat up, he was standing over me with a pair of scissors. He cut my tank top straps, but I curled my legs to my chest before he could get it down around my waist. Then I jammed the bottoms of both feet into his chest with as much force as possible.

He grabbed at the curtain as he fell. Rod and curtain both fell on top of him with the most satisfying crash. I couldn't help laughing as I watched him struggle free of it. He glared at me. I laughed harder. He turned on the shower.

I yelped when the cold water shocked my skin. I hate the cold. Hate, hate, _hate_ it. There was a moment where I forgot about Bakura. The only thought on my mind was getting out of the tub. He only needed that moment to wrestle the rest of my clothes down around my knees. They clung to me, tangling around my legs and feet. I slid and splashed, struggling to find my footing on the slick porcelain.

Bakura reached under me to find one of the bottles I'd knocked over and poured it on me. When he leaned over me to rub my chest and stomach, I tried to headbutt him. He pushed me down with both hands. Water streamed down the sides of his head and dripped off the tips of his hair. If my mouth hadn't still been full, I would've tried pulling his hair with my teeth. We glared at each other, breathing heavily. He eyed me. Slowly, gradually, the pressure on my shoulders eased.

I jerked up, trying to throw myself out of the bathtub. He climbed on top of me and pinned me harder. By then, the water had warmed up some and my initial panic had faded. I squirmed and growled as Bakura rubbed soap under my arms and down my sides, but wedged under him in the gods cursed porcelain sarcophagus there wasn't much I could do aside from let him wash me.

I stopped squirming as his hands reached my hips. I watched them with a mixture of startled curiosity and nervous confusion. The pale hands grabbed my cock without pausing, pushing back the foreskin with one, smooth motion. My body jumped. It felt entirely different than touching myself. I hadn't been prepared for it.

Bakura raised an eyebrow at me.

I glared at him.

Bakura laughed. "Oh my gods, of _course_ you're a virgin! Who would or even _could_ get anywhere near your dick?"

I tried to snarl a curse at him, but my mouth was still stuffed. It turned into a growl of frustration. Bakura grinned and kept lathering me. When he finished and sat back, the water he'd been shading me from pelted me clean. I turned my face away, hissing. I hate being sprayed in the face. Hate, hate, _hate_ it.

If Bakura noticed, he didn't care. He dumped his wet clothes in the sink and toweled himself off. I stared. His body was pale. Blindingly pale. He really did look like a ghost. And all that smooth, white flesh only made the bruises striping the backs of his legs all the more glaring. They were beautiful. I wouldn't have minded doing that to him myself. But who had done it? Ryou? Soft, small, willowy little Ryou? _Taser wielding, fetch-me-my-handcuffs, Ryou..._

I wasn't sure how I felt about all of this. Ryou couldn't do much worse to me than had already been done, pain-wise. I wasn't afraid. Angry, though. Angry that he thought he could do the things I wanted to do to him to me and get away with it. But also... Impressed that he could? And angry that he impressed me...

While I tried to sort it out, tried to process the whole situation in general, Bakura left the room and returned pushing a desk chair. He left it in the hall while he turned off the water and dried me. I let him, but only because my wet skin was cold and the towel was warm.

Then he dragged me out of the bathroom and set me in the chair. I didn't start struggling until I saw the rope. I spun the chair away from him. He slung a loop of rope across my chest and yanked me back. Once he had me tied to the chair, he knelt at my feet to get the rest of my soggy clothes off. I did kick at him one more time, but it was less an attempt at escape and more a matter of principle.

He finally pulled the socks out of my mouth. Too swift for me to get my teeth on his fingers. Bastard. "Untie me!" I demanded.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Right. I'll get right on that." He turned his back on me. Turned his fucking back on me and started straightening up the bathroom.

"I'll snap your fingers! Like twigs! And chew off your ears! And- and..." I bucked in the chair, but it was sturdier than it looked. "I won't stand for this, you bastard! Untie me or-"

Bakura laughed. "But you will sit for it."

"I'll _kill_ you."

He ignored me. No matter how I ranted or glared or insulted or struggled, he just fucking ignored me. By the time he finished cleaning the bathroom and dragged my chair into the kitchen, I'd pretty much worn myself out.

 _Bastard_.

I glared at his back as he washed vegetables in the sink. I glared at his back as he got down pots and pans. I glared at his back as he started chopping the vegetables. "I want my clothes," I finally said.

"Too bad, they're in the washing machine."

"But I'm cold."

"Stop looking for things to argue about. You'll be fine."

"I _am_ ," I insisted.

Bakura whipped around and put a hand on his denim-clad hip. "Well your clothes aren't going to be very useful if they're wet, then are they? Now shut up. Landlord never said I couldn't gag you and I don't have to treat you like a guest anymore."

Landlord... Gags... My eyes wandered to Bakura's legs. I didn't need to see the bruises with my eyes to see them in my head. What made them? A whip? A switch? They had been too smooth for that. Something with more of a blunt _whap_ than a sharp _crack_. And they had been red, with just a bit of purple starting on the edges. Relatively recent. My eyes wandered up Bakura's low, loose ponytail. "What did he hit you with?" I asked eagerly.

Bakura looked puzzled when he glanced over his shoulder. "Landlord?" He blinked once. "Ah, right." He turned back. "If you _must_ know, it was a meter stick."

I licked my teeth as my mental image updated. "Were you face-down on your belly, or bent over something?"

Bakura squinted at me. "Why are you so keen on the details of my sex life?"

I stared at his face, imagining it scrunched up with agony. I thought of Ryou wearing his innocent smile, clutching a wooden ruler with both hands. I couldn't stop thinking about it. The thoughts made me squirm in the chair.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Gods. Do you have any settings between hatred and horny?"

This time I giggled. "I guess you'll find out, _roomie_."

After that, he focused on cooking. I thought saw him pull a bag of shrimp out of the fridge. I'd never had shrimp. I'd heard about boiling lobsters alive. It was the reason Marik refused to eat them. It was the reason I always wanted to try lobster. Were shrimps like tiny lobsters? I scooted and leaned to see what he was doing. When he heard the chair move, he cast a suspicious glance over his shoulder.

"No. No moving around until Landlord joins us. You made enough of a mess in the bathroom. I don't have time to keep cleaning up after you."

"You know what you need, Kura? A little maid uniform. Don't you think you need a little maid uniform?"

He ignored that and a few other attempts to mess with him. When Ryou showed up, I almost smiled. Bakura was too good at stonewalling me. I didn't like it.

Ryou eyed me. "I hope he didn't give you too much trouble."

"He definitely gave me enough," Bakura huffed.

Ryou pushed me up to the table. Then he sat down at the head of it, clasped his hands in his lap, and looked at me. "I see," he smiled. "You did a swell job of cleaning him up, though. Thank you."

"Of course, Landlord."

I could almost hear the blush in Bakura's voice. I couldn't wrap my head around how someone who could seriously use the word 'swell' in a sentence could have the ex-king of thieves blushing at such basic praise.

"The next order of business," Ryou began, "is the manner in which I will address you. Do you have a name?"

I hesitated. "No. Not really..."

"Marik must have had some form of address for you."

"... Asshole?"

"Hm." Ryou sat back and smiled up at Bakura as the albino set a plate in front of him. "Thank you, Spirit." He turned his attention toward me as Bakura continued laying out plates, chopsticks, and drinks. "That's not a very good name, is it?"

"Copy..."

"No, no, I'm sure I could come up with something better." He thought for a bit. Then he smiled. "Shadow."

I pouted at him. I was expecting something more creative.

"Yes, Marik's Jungian shadow. I think that suits you quite well."

"Shouldn't _I_ get a say in _my_ name?" I frowned.

"No one gets a say in their own name, Shadow," Ryou said. "Names are chosen by your guardians. Given that Marik never named you properly, and given that I am your new guardian, it's only appropriate that I pick your name."

He wasn't wrong, exactly, but that didn't make the concept any less irritating. "I don't like it," I growled.

Ryou smiled softly and nodded once. "I get the impression that there are a lot of things you don't like. It must be exhausting."

Ryou picked up his chopsticks and put a shrimp in his mouth. I didn't realize Bakura had been waiting until he started eating immediately after. I looked at my plate. Vegetables, shrimp, and sticky rice. It smelled like garlic.

Without saying a word, Ryou picked up my chopsticks, plucked a mushroom off my plate, and offered it to me. It took a moment for the implication to sink in.

"Untie me," I said.

"Why?" Ryou asked.

"So I can eat," I snapped.

The soft little thing just smiled that soft little smile again, and gods was I starting to hate that expression. It didn't look polite and timid anymore. It looked aloof and condescending. "That's not a very good reason," Ryou said. "I can feed you. Or if you want to be difficult you can eat like an animal. Either way, it's hardly a reason to untie you."

"What if I refuse to do either of those things?"

"Then you can watch us eat until it's time to leave the table." Ryou put the food back on my plate, set the chopsticks down neatly, and resumed eating.

I was hungry. I hadn't really thought about it until now, but smelling the food, watching them eat... I hadn't eaten since some point before the altercation with Odion. Everyone had gotten so swept up in it. And it wasn't like I ever ate on a normal schedule anyway. I just took whatever I wanted from the kitchen when I felt like it. With all the distractions, I hadn't... and now they were going to make me... make me sit here and watch them eat? "This is insane!"

Bakura scoffed. "You only think it's insane because you're on the other end of it. If it was Landlord or me sitting in that chair, you'd think it was fantastic fun."

"Shut up," I snapped. But he wasn't wrong. Gods, to have either of them or both of them tied up at my mercy, I'd... I shook my head. "Sh-shut up," I repeated, squeezing my eyes shut. Something light touched my shoulder. I only felt it as a shocking spot of warmth on my cool skin. I opened one eye. Ryou's hand.

"The question was about food," Ryou said.

I stared into his dark eyes. Surprisingly intense for something with such soft edges. Had he asked a question? I looked at the plate. At the chopsticks. At Ryou's eyes. Then I glared at the plate. "You can feed me," I muttered.

"Pardon?" Ryou asked.

I pressed my lips together. "I choose the thing where you feed me."

"Oh. All right." The bright, innocent, vaguely condescending smile came back. "Here you are, then."

I let him put the mushroom on my tongue. It tasted as delicious as it smelled. Who would've thought fluffy could cook? And the piece of shrimp that followed it. It was juicy and warm and fleshy and chewing it was more fun than tasting it. I decided I didn't mind him feeding me. I actually growled when he stopped after four bites.

"Be patient," Ryou admonished. "We'll be at this table for the rest of the hour, anyway. You may as well pace yourself. Dinner is an important meal, you know. It gives everyone a chance to sit down, relax, and catch up at the end of the day."

He smiled at Bakura. A genuine, affectionate smile. That pissed me off, too, but I couldn't quite put a finger on why. It felt like something similar to jealousy, but why would I be jealous of Bakura?

"Speaking of which, like I said, Marik will be fine. Apparently Odion and Shadow got into a bit of a row and Shadow wound up biting Odion's nose. There was a lot of blood, but he should be fine after a few stitches. Ishizu was sick of Shadow's destructive behavior and said that if Marik didn't get rid of him somehow, she would call the police. Marik didn't think locking him up with a bunch of violent criminals would be good for anybody, so he asked me for help."

"What were they fighting about?" Bakura asked.

Ryou looked amused for a moment. "Would you like to tell him, Shadow?"

"Why would I?" I wanted more food. Why were we retreading these tedious events?

"You know more about what happened than I do. Besides, I'm curious about your perspective."

"Will you feed me more if I tell the stupid story?" I asked.

Ryou shrugged. "I was planning on feeding you more anyway, but if that helps motivate you go ahead."

"Ishizu found my panty stash and flipped her shit, so Odion yelled at me, so I bit him, and now I'm here."

"What the hell is a panty stash?" Bakura asked.

I sighed. "When I put Marik and Ishizu's underwear back in the hamper, I have to wait days to get the same pair again, so I hid a couple of my favorite ones in the couch. Ishizu found them and got all worried, which was stupid because it wasn't even about her. If Marik wore underwear as interesting as hers, I wouldn't have needed to involve her in the first place." I stared at my plate. "Can I have another shrimp now?"

Ryou put more of the sweet meat in my mouth. Gods, it was so good.

"Marik said Odion tried to take them away from you," Ryou prompted.

"Usually when I yell and break stuff, they leave me alone, but Baldy kept pushing. He said there was nothing I could break that would make him ignore what I'd just said about Marik." I snickered. "I wanted to test that theory."

Ryou fed me again. A piece of green pepper this time. It was too crunchy. I preferred the shrimp.

Ryou studied me. Evaluated me. "I'm picking up your belongings from Marik's house tomorrow," he finally said. "Is there anything in particular you want?"

I thought for a moment. Aside from a few clothes, I didn't think I owned very much. "I want my panty stash. Just the ones that smell like Marik..."

Bakura raised an eyebrow so hard I thought it would come off his face. Was he laughing at me?

"Don't laugh at me! It's not funny!" I snarled.

Ryou smiled that little, amused, almost condescending smile. "I'll just see what Marik decides to get rid of, then." He turned his focus to Bakura. "What about you, Spirit? How was your day?" Smooth as silk, as though all of this was perfectly normal.

"I'm sort of stuck on the module. I'm having trouble balancing the second fight with Diabound. The players are going to be level six by then and I'm not sure if I should scale up the fight difficulty or scale back the experience drops."

Ryou grinned. A genuine, happy grin. "Ooh, let's run some test battles this weekend!"

They went off talking about Monster World, but I tuned most of it out. Marik was giving Ryou all of my stuff? So he really thought he could leave me here? I twisted my wrists in the cuffs as silently as I could. We'd have to see about that. They couldn't leave me tied up forever.


	3. Chapter 3: Shadow

While Bakura washed up the plates, Ryou pushed me to the bathroom. I sat still, being as cooperative as I could as he untied the restraints around my torso. Almost there. But he never uncuffed my hands or untied my ankles. He lifted me out of the chair and set me on the toilet. I might have bitten him if his willingness to embrace me in such a cavalier manner hadn't caught me off guard.

"You should go now," Ryou said as he straightened up and leaned against the opposite wall. "It may be your last chance for a while."

Gods curse it! Why couldn't he just fucking untie me? I only needed a moment! I licked my lips and clenched my hands behind me. "Sitting here? Like this?"

"You'll manage," Ryou smiled.

Even if he just walked away for a few minutes, I might be able to get my hands in front of me, untie my feet, get a weapon... A broken hunk of mirror would be plenty sharp... "With you standing there like that?"

"Yes," Ryou nodded.

I narrowed my eyes. His lack of intimidation pissed me off. "Do you get off on watching people piss?"

Ryou cocked his head. "Do you get off on being watched? Is that why you're stalling?"

I'd been hoping for a blush or a flinch, but he only looked curious. Fine. I could play this game. I would see how unflappable he'd be when it came time to wipe my ass. He had to uncuff me then. He _had_ to. I stared at him. Held eye contact. Refused to blink. He met the challenge without a hint of discomfort. His eyes flicked and wandered, but I got the impression he was only looking at me to see what I looked liked. Nothing like nervousness or embarrassment.

After a few minutes, I smirked. "I'm finished."

Ryou nodded and knelt by the sink. What was he doing? Getting another weapon? Did he still have the taser? He must...

"I still have the taser," Ryou said as he placed a plastic box on the counter.

I couldn't decide if he'd read my mind or made a lucky guess. He grabbed me under the armpits and propped me up bent across the counter. I flexed my arms, anticipating freedom. "Ack!" Something cold and wet swiped between my cheeks. I tried to jerk up and turn around, but the next thing I felt was the tingling punch of the taser. "What are you doing?"

"You can't possibly want to sit in your own waste. You were so nice and clean," Ryou smiled.

Baby wipes. That smug asshole. _He_ was wiping _my_ ass, and somehow _I_ was the one that felt demeaned. Like a baby, or some helpless invalid. I tensed, ready to turn around and attack him in some way that hadn't really occurred to me yet. When I felt the prongs of the taser on my skin, I paused. Waited for my muscles to lock up and shut down again.

Ryou didn't shock me right away. "Are you learning your lesson, then?" He asked.

I shuddered. I couldn't fight him. Not like this. Not right now. I hated... I wanted... I had to... "Argh!" I tossed my head. Felt it connect with the toothbrush holder on the edge of the counter. Heard it clatter to the floor. I grinned, chuckling softly as I let my forehead fall on the cool surface beneath me, but I stopped struggling.

I should've realized he wouldn't mind touching my ass. He probably fingered Bakura. I giggled at the thought. I was still grinning when he finally set me back in the chair and pushed me back to the living room.

"Spirit," Ryou said.

Bakura looked up from the dish he was drying. Ryou gestured with two fingers, and then the pair disappeared into the bedroom. I listened, more than a little curious. Was Bakura loud? Marks like that would make anyone loud. Unless Ryou gagged him...

I heard a dragging sound. Interesting. Not the kind of interesting I was hoping for.

They brought a cage into the living room. Waist high, but rectangular. It would have fit a medium sized dog comfortably. I doubted that the rabbit used it for dogs. The rabbit that walked toward me smiling almost apologetically.

"Unfortunately, Marik caught me somewhat off guard with all of this," Ryou said. "I'm going to have to improvise tonight."

I watched Bakura arrange some pillows and blankets inside the cage. I snarled at Ryou. "You are not sticking me in that thing."

"I can't leave you tied up all night," Ryou said. "It's bad for your circulation."

I licked my lips. He wouldn't surprise me this time. One of the pale arms slipped under my arm pit to lift me again. I clamped my arm down on his elbow and sank my teeth into his shoulder. He gasped. A beautiful sound. The cage door clattered as Bakura presumably jumped up to help. Bakura pulled my hair. I bit harder, but not out of anger. Then the air rushed from my lungs as Ryou punched me in the solar plexus. My jaw went slack as I tried to refill them and Bakura yanked my head back.

Ryou extricated himself. He peaked under the collar of his shirt to see if I'd left any marks. When he looked back at me, I thought I saw the first flicker of frustration. I laughed.

Ryou's face hardened with determination. He walked around behind me. Bakura let go. The chair tipped, rough and unexpected. I yelped when I landed on my knees, but it was more surprise than pain. When Ryou ensnared me from behind, I couldn't find a good angle to bite him again. He dragged and shoved me toward the cage. "No!" I howled. "No, no, no!"

The rabbit forced me to my knees and got my head through the door. I braced one shoulder against the bars, but he twisted me diagonally and got that through, too. I rolled over and sat up just in time to watch the rabbit slam the door. I braced my back against the bars and slammed the bottoms of my feet against the door, but it was surprisingly sturdy. Ryou disappeared behind me. I ignored him until I felt him grab the handcuffs through the bars and unlock my hands.

My fingers tingled slightly. I rubbed my wrist as I flexed them. My eyes snapped up as the rabbit rose up over me.

"You can untie your own feet, right?" Ryou smiled.

I glared at him. "You can't _do_ this," I insisted. "You can't leave me in here! This is... this is so fucked up!"

"It's for your own good, Shadow. You clearly can't control yourself."

I snarled. "Don't you mean your own good?"

Ryou laughed and shook his head. "I promise I'll have a better solution to your problem tomorrow. Until then, I recommend you spend some time considering the reason I locked you up. Some self-reflection would do you a world of good, I think."

I smirked. "You're afraid of me..."

Ryou reached through the bars and grabbed my jaw, curling his thumb and middle finger into the soft spots where the bone ended at my ears. He pulled my face to the bars as he bent over, close enough that I could smell his breath. It was surprisingly pleasant. Not exactly minty or anything, but... clean.

"That is incorrect," he said, "but don't fret too much. You do have all night to ponder it, and there's no real penalty for failure this time. I don't expect you to develop an appropriate level of self awareness that quickly."

He released me and joined Bakura on the couch. When had Bakura moved to the couch?

"Are you making a hardcore character?" Ryou asked as he picked up a video game controller. He let out a light laugh. "What happened to that armor set you wanted so badly?"

"I spent two hours farming rifts today. I'm in the mood for a challenge," Bakura said as he sank down to settle against Ryou's chest.

"Still?" Ryou smirked.

Bakura chuckled. "I'm in the mood for a _fun_ challenge."

Bakura held the controller up near his face. Ryou kept his arms around Bakura, holding the controller in his lap as he played. They were quiet, but it was a comfortable sort of quiet. The kind of quiet that existed because nothing needed to be said. Comfortable for them. I clenched my jaw and tried to focus on the screen. On the characters throwing balls of light and swinging improbable swords at hoards of hell's minions. But it bothered me. The silence. Their comfort with it.

They'd obviously played the game before. They didn't need to discuss strategy. But I'd expected... I hadn't expected Bakura to be so... I'd expected him to cackle at every victory and curse at every defeat, but he looked so gods cursed comfortable settled between Ryou's legs. Why should he be so relaxed? Where was _his_ rage? _His_ fire?

Ryou smiled and nuzzled the top of Bakura's head when they defeated a particularly difficult boss and Bakura tilted his head to steal a kiss on Ryou's jaw.

I tightened my fists on the bars. I gritted my teeth against the sting of coalescing jealousy expanding my chest. Why did they get along? Why did _they_ get to get along? What did... How did...

My vision blurred.

Ryou looked at me. "Is something wrong?"

Embarrassment twisted my stomach. "Leave me alone! I don't want your pity!"

Ryou put on a rye smile. "Good. I can promise that no one pities you."

My face flashed hot. "Fuck you!"

Ryou cocked his head. "Does that bother you?"

"N... No! But... you don't have to be so smug about it!"

Ryou separated from Bakura so he could kneel in front of me. "If you tell me what's wrong, I'll let you play."

I honestly didn't give a shit about playing with them. But I was more than willing to make demands. "I want Marik."

"Do you miss him?"

"I want to punch him in his stupid face."

Ryou sighed and sat down with his arms wrapped loosely around his knees. "Marik made it very clear that he never wanted anything to do with you."

I took a few, shallow, rapid breaths. My eyes squeezed shut, like if I couldn't see Ryou then he couldn't see me. "It's not fair!"

"Being in the cage?" Ryou asked.

I shook my head. "That he... that I... I'm only being the way he made me be! It's not fair that he did this to me! If he'd... If he'd just..."

"You know that you shouldn't break things and attack people," Ryou said.

"I can't help it! I get so... So... In my chest, it hurts and I can't think until I hear something break or feel something... The sharp sound and the sharp feeling of... It makes me feel good! Why does Marik always want me to be miserable? It's not fair!"

"He may not want anything to do with you, but that does not mean he wants you to be miserable."

"He dumped me off with you."

"He wanted me to help you."

"Bullshit! He probably knew you'd tie me up and humiliate me! He's probably somewhere laughing that I'm finally getting what I deserve!"

Ryou cocked his head, wearing that calm, curious expression once more. "Do you think you deserve this?"

I glared at him. "I didn't- No! I never said that! I- That's what he thinks! You're all thinking that, aren't you?"

Ryou shook his head. "It's not what you deserve, but it is what you need. If you don't know how to control yourself someone has to control you until you learn."

"I don't like this! It isn't fun! I..."

Ryou's hand wrapped around my fist and squeezed. "There's no need to be afraid of giving up control. You never had it to begin with."

I didn't know what to say to that. Throwing tantrums wouldn't get me out of the cage. I was starting to get tired of throwing tantrums, anyway. For the night. I stared at Ryou. Thinking. Trying to think.

Ryou offered the game controller through the bars.

I crossed my arms and looked away. Being too tired to throw tantrums didn't mean there weren't other ways to be stubborn.

Ryou shrugged. "Are you comfortable? Do you have enough blankets, pillows, and such?"

I licked my teeth. I almost asked for another blanket, or pillow, just to see if he'd open the door, but I doubted he would. He'd probably stuff it through the bars. I buried my face between my knees. I wanted to sleep. As soon as I heard the video game resume, I shifted onto my side and pulled a blanket over my head.

My mind lingered on Bakura. I hadn't seen him since Battle City, but I remembered him clearly. A scorned young man full of vengeance and venom. A victim caught in the crossfire of Zorc and the Pharaoh's game.

Not entirely unlike me.

How much had he changed? I guessed I'd have all day tomorrow to find out.


	4. Chapter 4: Bakura

**Author's note: Heh, I... I didn't know I could get this sappy... Anyway, I tend to write with minimal planning, but I'm hoping I'll be able to sprinkle little Bakura bits like this throughout the story.**

I watched Ryou pull off his shirt. The teeth imprints had long faded and I didn't see any bruises. If anyone knows how tough Ryou is, it's me. I'm sure he's fine. I'm sure he could've handled the animal without my intervention. I still worry about him. Sometimes he's too tough for his own good.

I took the brush from his dresser and ran it through his hair. My eyes were on the mirror. I watched the stiff line of his mouth melt into the softest of relaxed smiles. I smoothed my hand down his hair after each stroke, enjoying the full, silkiness of it. He almost purred as he leaned into my touch. I sighed. "I know you're going to do what you think is right regardless of my opinion on the matter, but can you at least promise me that you won't over-stress yourself?"

Ryou rubbed his shoulder as he grinned at my reflection. "Poor impulse control is nothing I haven't dealt with before."

I snorted. "There's a wide gap between compulsively nicking things from shops and compulsive violent outbursts."

Ryou tilted his head as I moved on to a different section of his hair. His eyes flicked wistfully to the ceiling. "I'm not sure it's that bad..."

I gave his reflection a flat look. "He literally bites, Landlord."

Ryou laughed lightly. "Well, yes, that is why he's in the cage. I just mean..." He paused. "The Ishtars are afraid of him. After what happened to their father, I don't blame them, but I think he's gotten used to using intimidation to get what he wants. I think if that method stops working for him, he'll eventually realize he has to try something else." Contemplation creased Ryou's face. "Or escalate... I haven't spent enough time with him to decide how much he might escalate if push comes to shove." Ryou sighed. "I do wish Marik was more willing to talk about him, for his sake as much as Shadow's..."

I smirked. "One Ishtar at a time, Landlord."

Ryou laughed. Gods, he had the best laugh. It was genuine and sunny despite the burdens he shouldered for other people. But... "Now that you mention it, he said some kind of disturbing things about you when we were alone together."

Ryou only waited for me to continue.

"I didn't think much of it at the time." I smirked. "He was going on about your innocence being sexy." I frowned again. "The idea of you being shy or submissive was so ridiculous that it didn't occur to me how rapey it sounded until we started talking about impulse control problems."

"Hm." Ryou slipped into his own thoughts as I started his braid. At length, he said, "Well, someone has to do something." He smiled at my reflection until I tied off his hair. Then he turned around and leaned close to my ear. "Thank you for worrying about me, though."

The soft whisper of air on my temple gave me a pleasant shiver. I grabbed his waist to keep him close and pressed my face against his shoulder. As sappy as it was, I didn't know where I'd be without him. There was a time when someone had needed to do something about me, as well, and Ryou had been the only one determined enough to try. I didn't want anything bad to happen to Ryou. I didn't trust 'Shadow.'

On the other hand, Ryou was right. We couldn't exactly throw him out on his own. As much as I hated the thing that had climbed out of Marik's emotional baggage, the idea of completely abandoning him hit a little too close to home.

"I promise I'll be careful." Ryou's lips pressed the promise into my cheek. Then he leaned back and smiled ruefully. "I do hate doing this to you, but I will need a lot of help. My time and emotional energy are spread pretty thin these days."

I huffed my bangs out of my face and looked at our feet. "I know. I'll try."

Ryou grinned and hugged me again. We stood like that for a moment before he pulled away to finish changing for bed.


	5. Chapter 5: Shadow

I woke up alone in the living room. It was annoyingly quiet. I could barely even hear the muted rush of morning traffic. How high up were we again? I tried to remember how many stairs Marik had led me up. All I could remember were the tense muscles trembling in his bare shoulders. I'd been thinking about how easy it would've been to grab them and chuck him down the stairs. How I wouldn't do it then, because I wanted to see where we were going and we were high enough that he might be more seriously injured than would be fun, but maybe on the way back down just a couple steps from the bottom I'd give him a nudge to remind him that I was letting him drag me around.

I should've pushed him.

Maybe he would've gone down crying and forgotten all of this. Or maybe he would've been more determined. I'd clearly hit some nerve if he'd resorted to kidnapping me. Why hadn't I fucking noticed when we'd been on those gods cursed stairs?!

I should've pushed him.

I still could if I got out of here. Not these stairs, and they didn't have stairs in their house, but I could find some somewhere.

I shoved my hands between the bars and pushed until red lines dug into my palms. They gave a little, but pressing my face against the gap quickly proved I'd never get my head through. I went after the padlock on the door next. Couldn't pull it off. Twisting it back and forth hard enough almost bent the latch it was stuffed through, but I wasn't making any kind of progress on actually breaking it.

I growled and curled my fingers through the bars on either side of me. I kicked and yanked and rocked and pounded until the cage flipped onto its side. As the rattling crash died in the air, light appeared under the bedroom door. Ryou's upper body appeared first.

"Oh, goodness, are you alright?"

Smug. Fucking. Prick. I growled. Unperturbed, Ryou flicked on the light and leaned over the cage to get a closer look at me. A braid dangled temptingly over his shoulder.

Fucker _smiled_. "You look well enough. Let's get you righted, then."

By then Bakura had joined us. He didn't say anything, but the tight creases at the corners of his lips showed his suppressed laughter. I thought about biting their fingers when they grabbed the bars, but the cage was taller than it was narrow and I wanted to sit up.

"Upsie dasie," Ryou smiled as they pushed me upright.

I crossed my arms and glared at the wall in front of me, ignoring them both. Ryou returned to the bedroom. Bakura went to the kitchen. I hugged my knees and rocked restlessly. Gods, they weren't going to let me out, were they? The fuck? Thefuckthefuckthefuck...

I focused on the clattering sounds in the kitchen. A soft, tapping crunch drew my attention. I gripped the bars, leaning and pressing my face between them as I tried to see what Bakura was doing. Maybe being tied to a chair in the kitchen hadn't been so bad.

Someone tapped me on the forehead. I wrinkled my nose and scowled up at the little bastard.

"I'm going to Marik's house to get your things," Ryou said. "The Spirit has promised to feed and entertain you, but I don't expect to be long. I do expect you to be on your best behavior."

Ha! With the implication being that my best behavior still wouldn't be great? But he wanted me to fuck up, didn't he? So the little sadist would have an excuse to leave me in the cage. Maybe I would be good to spite him... Or was that what he wanted me to think? Gods curse him and his stupid, smug, deceptively cute face...

"...when I get home, okay?" Ryou smiled.

Wait, what? But he didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he went to give Bakura a quick kiss on the cheek. As he started toward the door, Bakura asked, "You're not eating?"

"I have a lot to do this morning. Don't worry, Spirit, I promise I'll grab a snack before I start work."

I heard his keys jingling. Listened to the soft shuffling sound of feet sliding into shoes. The door opened and shut. Then it was just me, Bakura, and the sound of sizzling oil. I pressed my face between the bars again, sniffing the air curiously.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Eggs," Bakura grumbled. "I'm sure you want some. You'll have to wait."

I rested my chin on a perpendicular bar. "What kind of eggs?"

Bakura pursed his lips at me. And then sighed, softening his expression somewhat. "I was going to stir fry them with the left-over rice. Why? Do you have a request?"

"I don't know. I've never had eggs."

Bakura's forehead wrinkled. Then he smirked, nodding slightly. "Marik's a vegan. I guess his whole family is, too?"

"I don't know," I repeated, getting annoyed. It wasn't like I kept tabs on what they ate. They didn't like me hanging around watching them do stuff in the kitchen, anyway. Especially not when the things they were doing involved having the knives out. I wondered if Ryou would think to put any sharp things away before he let me out of the cage. I wondered if he would let me out at all...

I rattled the bars.

Bakura chuckled. "You're going to fall over again."

"Shut up!"

"Gods you're impatient." Bakura stretched to pull some bowls down from a cabinet. "Landlord will let you out when he gets home. Deal with it."

"If you're going to keep laughing at me, you better hope he doesn't."

"That doesn't even-" Bakura stopped and sighed. He scooped the contents of the wok into two small bowls. Balancing one in each hand, he hooked a cushion off the couch with his foot and kicked it over next to the cage. He settled on it with his legs crossed and held one of the bowls out to me.

I took it and peered inside. White rice and bits of egg with little strips of meat on top. I tasted one. My eyes widened, and then slipped closed as I chewed slowly. A bit of crunchy. A bit of chewy. A lot of salty. Wow. "Is this bacon?"

"Yes."

Bakura sounded amused, but I was too busy chewing another piece of bacon to care. The eggs were squishy and crumbly. The bacon was definitely better. It was best when I mixed it all together, though.

I was almost done when I heard Bakura snicker. "If I'd known fried meat was all it took to make you happy, Battle City would've been a lot different."

I looked at Bakura, and then focused on the bars. "He's going to let me out when he comes home?"

"If you're ready to stop being an asshole."

I narrowed my eyes. "You can't tell me what to do."

Bakura shrugged. "Neither of us care if you choose to stay in the cage. We can shove food through the bars. You can piss in a bottle. We can balance it on top of the tub and hose you down in the bathroom. It's not very comfortable, but it is very possible."

I frowned. "That's fucked up."

"Then don't be an asshole."

I clenched my teeth. "You _can't_ tell me what to _do._ "

"Then stay in the cage," Bakura shrugged again.

"I- but- But I-" It was my choice. They didn't care what I did. They... But what if I couldn't do what I wanted to do? I could feel the chopsticks bending in my tightening hand and I hadn't even thought about breaking them, but wouldn't it be such a lovely sound?

Bakura held up his last strip of bacon. "I'll trade you."

I dropped the chopsticks and grabbed the meat. When I stopped chewing and looked up, Bakura was carrying both bowls and both sets of chopsticks to the kitchen. I looked down, flexing my fingers, watching the bones move under my skin. Skin always fascinated me. It's so delicate in its normal state. And so easy to damage so deeply that it never looks normal again. But it's supposed to protect us...

A shadow fell across me, so I looked up. Bakura stood with his hands on his hips. "If I gave you a game controller, would you break it?" He asked.

I grinned. "I won't say no." I really couldn't. If I had a reason to break it, I would.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Do you understand that saying shady shit like that isn't going to get you out of the cage any faster?"

I glared. "If I said I wouldn't and then did, I wouldn't be in any less trouble."

Bakura frowned at me. Then shrugged. "As along as you understand that there would be consequences, that's good enough for me."

He dragged the cage to the end of the couch, but I wasn't paying attention to anything else he did. I stared at the backs of his legs. He wore dark flannel pants. I couldn't see the bruises, but the idea of consequences definitely brought them to mind. "Consequences like..." I was genuinely intrigued by the thought. How nutty was the rabbit? Would he spank me? Whip me? Was there another level that I hadn't thought of?

Bakura snorted. "Nothing you'd want. That would defeat the purpose the punishment."

He handed a controller through the bars. I studied the colorful buttons. Counted them. There were a lot of them.

Bakura sat on the couch. He hesitated. "Do you... _have_ an email address?"

What did that have to do with anything? My expression must have answered his question, however, because he shrugged and started up the game he'd played with Ryou the previous night.

"We'll make a profile for you later. You can sign into mine as a guest for now."

I looked down at the controller again.

"Press the start button," Bakura said.

I did. Two screen names appeared. Moving the stick highlighted different things on the screen, but pressing start again didn't do anything.

"Um... press the X button?"

His tone made me side-eye him. He was always fucking laughing at me and somehow I was the asshole? But he probably wanted to piss me off, so he could keep laughing at me, so I forced myself to focus on finding and pressing the button instead.

"Have you ever played a video game?"

"So what if I haven't?" I snapped.

"Huh. I assumed Marik had to have some kind of console. They've got enough money for it."

"Marik likes the mall. They all go outside a lot." Once I realized that the screen showed what some of the buttons did, getting to the screen to pick a character was easy.

Bakura made a thoughtful sound and nodded. "What about you?"

Apparently Bakura had been playing a female crusader and Ryou had been playing a male wizard. "They don't trust me outside." I thought about the demon hunter, but it looked like something Marik would pick. "Because of the thing with the stupid neighbor's stupid dog." I decided I liked the witch doctor the best.

When I looked at Bakura to let him know I was done, I saw him giving me the same look Ishizu gave me when she thought I was lying about something. I grinned, wondering how pissed he would be if I said he looked like Ishizu. Apparently the grin made Bakura more suspicious.

"What did you do to the dog?"

"Why does everyone think I did something? He started it!"

"The neighbor started it?" Bakura arched and eye brow. "I find that hard to believe."

"Not the neighbor. The dog!" When Bakura's expression didn't change, I huffed. "I was in _my_ backyard pulling the petals off Ishizu's flowers, like I _always_ do, but that _day_ he wanted to make it a thing. I was just telling him to shut up in his own language, but the neighbor was all like, 'I never want to see your crazy brother on my fence again!'"

Bakura huffed his bangs out of his face as he looked at the screen. He muttered something that I didn't hear, but it didn't matter once we started the game. At first I was frustrated that my character caused fewer flashing lights and explosions than Bakura's, but after he showed me how to change my armor and add new spells I started getting excited about what I would unlock next.

At one point when we hit a lull between missions, I noticed Bakura's character stopped moving. When I looked around to see why, I found Ryou sitting in the arm chair eating a doughnut. A plastic bag and an old backpack sat on the floor at his feet. How long had he been watching?

"It's nice to see you two getting along," Ryou smiled. He picked up the plastic bag first. "Did you have fun?"

"Surprisingly," Bakura smirked.

"I'm not ready to stop," I said. I was ready to argue the point if necessary.

"You don't have to stop," Ryou said as he sat in front of me. "You'd be a lot more comfortable on the couch, though, wouldn't you?"

I watched him suspiciously as he reached into the bag, reluctant to answer. I sensed something else coming, now that I knew better than to let his sweet face deceive me.

"Give me your wrists, please."

Handcuffs? I held the controller against my chest, scowling.

Ryou's face went stern. "If you want to keep playing the game, you must wear these. That's the deal."

I eyed the objects in his hands. They weren't handcuffs. They were... like a pair of matching bracelets, with some sort of... flat box on one side. They weren't connected by anything...

I put one hand through the bars, as a test. Ryou squeezed the bracelet onto my wrist, latching the free end into the box. He waited patiently while I examined it. I shook my wrist, but the bracelet didn't budge. It was tight. Tight enough that something sticking out of the back of the box pressed into my skin. It was mildly annoying, but it didn't hurt.

When I eyed him suspiciously, he only smiled and held up the second band. I let him put it on me. And, more grudgingly, the two that he wanted to put on my ankles. Finally. Finally fucking finally he unlocked the cage and let me crawl out.

My joints cracked as I rose to my feet, stretching my arms and arching my back. It felt good. It felt so, so good!

Ryou held up the backpack. "These are all of your belongings, according to Odion."

My head snapped around. "You didn't talk to Marik?" I wasn't surprised. Little fucker never wanted to deal with anything. I was... surprisingly disappointed. He wasn't curious about how I was doing? Worried about Ryou or Bakura? Anything?

"You should get dressed," was all Ryou said.

I was still naked, wasn't I? There were clothes in the bag. It was a little cold outside of my blankets and pillows, so I put them on. When I was done, Ryou nodded, looking pleased.

"Good. You should sit down for this next part."

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm going to demonstrate the bands for you. It will be more effective than trying to explain it to you."

I eyed my wrists nervously. "I don't want to..."

Ryou cocked his head, wearing the calm, faintly amused expression that I was really starting to hate. "I'm not in the habit of making arbitrary demands. You need to learn to trust my decisions, Shadow."

Fuck that. "No!" I crossed my arms. "No, you- you can't make me!" He probably could, if he had the taser... Smug fucker. That was the only reason I hadn't resorted to protesting physically yet.

The small, plastic remote fit neatly in his palm. I had almost missed it. "Shadow," he repeated. Stern. Calm.

"No!"I stepped toward him, fists clenched. If he had the taser, I would've seen it by now. "I refuse!"

He pressed a button. I felt a pinch of pain in my ankles, and then everything below my knees spasmed, dropping out from under me. My knees struck the floor hard.

"I told you to sit down. Take this as your lesson to listen next time."

I cocked a fist to swing at his legs, but it only caused the same pinch of pain in my wrist. I let my arms drop to my sides. Thinking. Glaring.

"They're modified shock collars. The Spirit and I will both have a remote. If you can control yourself, we won't have to use them."

My heart pounded in my chest. Little fucker. Littlefuckerlittlefuckerlittle...

"Now, I understand that sometimes you feel like you simply must destroy something. Surprisingly enough, I'm okay with that." He smiled.

That would be surprising if I believed him. I watched with guarded curiosity as he pulled a purple, fleece plushie out of the bag. It was vaguely person-shaped, with a head, four limbs, and a torso, but otherwise featureless. Had he actually bought me something I was allowed to rip apart? Was that a thing?

"This is yours to tear up as much as you like. The only caveat is no scissors, lighters, or tools of any sort. Hands and teeth only. I can't afford to buy you a new toy every day, so we have to slow you down somehow."

The plushie squeaked when I grabbed it from him. I crushed it between my palms, forcing all of the air out in one, long wail, and then letting it refill with an extended wheeze. I... did derive a strange satisfaction from it. I felt the midsection with my fingers, trying to find the source of the noise. It must have been small. I wanted to know what it looked like. My nails pried at any seams I could find, but it _was_ difficult with bare hands. My teeth pulled at it, next, but all I did was tear away a few bits of fleecy fluff.

Ryou stood in front of Bakura, combing and fluffing the wild, white bangs with his fingers. "You two are alone for lunch today. I want to work through it to make up for lost time."

Bakura frowned. "If you insist, landlord..."

Ryou hugged Bakura's head to his stomach, and then disappeared into his office.


	6. Chapter 6: Shadow

Bakura and I played the video game for a while longer. Until he got up to get lunch. With nothing better to do, I followed him into the kitchen. He boiled a pot of water and dumped two ramen flavoring packets into it. I leaned over his shoulder to smell it. He growled.

"There's a thing called personal space. Have you heard of it?" Bakura asked.

"I'm hungry," I said.

"Hovering in my way isn't going to get you food any faster." Bakura nudged me out of the way with his hip. "Wait at the table or something." He bent over to get some carrots and those long, green, grassy things out of the fridge.

"But I can't see from the table," I said. What was the green, grassy thing called? I knew I liked them. They were like less spicy onions.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "If you're going to be curious, at least be useful.

He put the carrots and the- yes green onions, that was it- on one cutting board and a hunk of raw meat on another cutting board. Then he pulled two knives from the knife block, and held one out to me. I stared at it, and then looked at him. He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head toward the first cutting board. I took the knife slowly, waiting for the trick. There had to be a trick. Was he trying to tempt me into attacking him so that he could shock me?

No. Yes? No... He turned his back to me and started slicing the meat into thin strips.

I wondered how fast his hands were. He wouldn't have given me the knife if he thought he _wasn't_ faster than me. In theory he had a remote for the bands on my wrists and ankles. Was it in his pocket? Was he faster than me? Was the second remote a lie? What was the range? How many times could I stab Bakura before Ryou heard and came running out with his own remote?

I watched Bakura's hands. Watched the bits of meat curl over and fall into a neat, overlapping line. The shrimp last night had been so fucking good... And the bacon this morning... If I escaped now I wouldn't get to find out what this tasted like...

I stood next to him and chopped the tip off a carrot. It made a satisfying _snap thunk_ sound. I liked it. Cutting up the green onions wasn't quite as fun as chewing on them, though. When I finished, I poured the contents of the board into the boiling broth. _Plopplopplopplop._ Like fat drops of rain. Orange cubes and green rings rose and sank as the bubbles churned them. Bakura added the meat one thin strip at a time and then rinsed both boards in the sink. I watched the meat go from pink to brown. It smelled so good that I didn't want to wait for the noodles, but Bakura nudged me out of the way again to add them.

I watched him stir. He'd barely even looked at me this whole time, I suddenly realized. Marik, Ishizu, or Odion were always watching me when they were in the same room. I felt ignored. I didn't like it. "Is it almost done?"

"Five more minutes."

I watched the clock on the stove, waiting for the numbers to change. They didn't. "Can we go play the game?"

"Not now."

I looked at Bakura. "Why not?"

Bakura cocked his head at me. "Do I really have to explain it to you? There's no time. Just be patient."

I looked at the clock again. The numbers had gone up one digit. I growled.

"Or instead of standing there huffing and whining, you could get some bowls ready."

"I don't know where they are," I said.

Bakura shrugged. "You've got four minutes to kill. Look for them."

I glared at him. "I've almost had it with your snarky shit, Bakura."

Bakura grinned at me. "Only almost?"

Snarling, I raised a hand. Hitting him wouldn't be good enough. I was going to slap that pot off the stove and spill boiling broth all over him. My arm spasmed, muscles contracting painfully. I held it to my chest with my other hand instead. My eyes drifted to Bakura's hand, thrust in the pocket of his jeans. He watched me with a hard expression. I shifted from foot to foot. It wasn't fucking fair. Why could he treat me like this? It wasn't fair!

Bakura took a deep breath. "Okay. Fine. They're in the cabinet above the sink."

"Fuck you," I snapped. I stomped over to the table, sat down, and folded my arms under my chin. I needed a way to get back at him. Something he wouldn't see coming. What the fuck could I do?

A steaming bowl clunked on the table in front of me. My eyes followed Bakura as he sat opposite me with his own bowl. He tapped his chopsticks on the edge of the bowl.

"That wasn't entirely your fault," Bakura finally said. "I'm not as good at this as Landlord."

I simply glared at him. Fuck him and fuck his 'peace offering.' What, he thought he could buy me with food?

"I've been..." Bakura sighed. "I've been working on holding grudges. It took me a while to forgive Marik, but... I _suppose_ it's only fair to give you same chance."

The ramen smelled good. My stomach whined for it. Ugh. Fine. I'd eat it, but I wouldn't like it. I wrapped my arm around the bowl and pulled it closer. "Aren't you two best buddies?" I grumbled.

Bakura started to laugh, and then stopped himself. "I don't know how much of our relationship you were aware of, but it was more of an acquaintance of growing inconvenience."

I fished a piece of beef out of the broth with my chopsticks and shoved it in my mouth. It was juicy. Tender. Dammit. I liked it. Well, I wasn't going to let Bakura know that.

"He almost got Landlord killed _twice._ Regardless of how I may or may not have felt about Landlord specifically at that time... I needed his body alive and healthy. I was basically done with Marik's ass after our duel with Atem. When he woke me up in the hospital asking me to duel you, I told him to get bent."

I looked up from scooping noodles into my mouth.

"But," Bakura continued with a deep sigh, "he convinced me that you would never give me the Rod or the information I needed, and I was desperate. So I tried to help him. And he paid me back by fucking up my plans and abandoning me as soon as he decided I wasn't useful."

I snorted. "Yeah. He does that."

Bakura forced a smile. "I was only _sort_ of inclined to _consider_ forgiving him after I realized my plan never would have succeeded."

"Why forgive him at all?"

Bakura shrugged. "Life feels better when you're not walking around with pain in your chest."

"I like pain," I grumbled. I stuffed a few more bits of beef into my mouth, and then paused. "This is good," I mumbled, mouth still full. I didn't look to see Bakura's reaction, though.

We finished eating in silence. It would have bothered me, but I wanted to get back to the game and Bakura was eating slowly enough. As soon as Bakura stood up from the table, I went back to the couch. I watched him rinse the bowls in the sink. Put them in the dishwasher. Dry his hands. I finally snapped. "Would you hurry up?"

He looked at me. "I can't play games all day. I have work to do." He paused. "Do you need me to show you how to start single player mode?"

My eyes narrowed. "I'm not stupid."

Bakura returned to packing up the left over soup. After a moment of silence, he said, "I have to work on my module today. You're going to have to entertain yourself until after dinner. That's all there is to it."

Huffing, I poked through menus until I managed to start up a single player game. It wasn't as easy as playing with Bakura, and it wasn't as fun. The third time I died, I brought the controller down hard on my lap and looked at Bakura. He sat at the dining table with a laptop open in front of him. "Are you done yet?"

"No, I'm not." He didn't look up.

"Take a break. I need help."

"I can't play with you, Shadow. I'm busy."

"Just for a minute, to get past this part."

"Try some different move sets. Optimize your equipment. Hell, look in the chest in town. There's probably some old armor from when I was level four. I don't care. Just don't talk to me."

I narrowed my eyes. "Ryou said you were supposed to entertain me."

Bakura gave me a flat look. "If you're planning to tattle on me, I can already tell you how that's going to go. Landlord will ask me what happened, and I'll tell him I was trying to work on my module. Then he'll ask you why you couldn't entertain yourself, and make you brainstorm a list of solo activities. Is that what you want?"

I didn't want that. But was that true? Was Bakura lying so he could ignore me all afternoon? I decided to call his bluff. I stood up, intent on the door leading off the dining room. The door to Ryou's office. If I could get him on my side, Bakura would have to do what I wanted.

"Don't." Bakura's voice was hard, but level.

I ignored him, only a couple steps from the door now. Pain shot up my calves, dropping me to my knees.

"I mean it. Do not disturb him while he's working. If you want to talk to him, you need to wait until he comes out."

I glared at the albino bastard. "Yeah? And when's that?"

Bakura snorted, smirking slightly. "Just before dinner time, actually."

"Well isn't that fucking convenient for you," I snapped.

Bakura shrugged.

I wanted to slap that god's cursed smirk off his face, but I already knew he wouldn't let me. "What about that thing where you texted him?"

"That was an emergency. This isn't."

Fucker. "Get _off_ the computer or I _am_ going in there."

Bakura held up the remote so I could see his thumb hovering over two of the buttons. "Neither of those things are happening."

I clenched my fists until they trembled, glaring until my eyes hurt. Then I looked down. "Gods fuck," I cursed to myself, slamming a hand on the floor. I couldn't get him. I had to get him. I couldn't...

I stood and turned away from the door. I felt Bakura's eyes follow me as I stomped to the bathroom and shut the door. Inside, I pounded my fist on the counter, growling out loud. They weren't scared of me. Neither of them. The damn bracelets...

I flung the medicine cupboard open first, sweeping anything that got in the way of my search onto the counter. When I didn't find what I wanted, I check under the sink. Nail scissors. They chopped at chewed at the band around my wrist, but I couldn't get them to cut through.

Fuckers!

I threw the scissors down and gripped my head. Something... I had to hurt... something...

An idea dawned on me. Armor! Armor in the chest...

I giggled, and then clamped my hand over my mouth. No sound on the other side of the door. No movement of the knob. I turned it and opened the door a crack. Enough to peek out and see Bakura at the table. Still absorbed in the screen. Wearing headphones now.

Oh, gods, yes. Yesyesyes...

I'd teach _him_ about ignoring _me_. When I was done, he'd never ignore me again.

I returned to the couch. It was hard to suppress the excited jitters. It was hard not to laugh. But he ignored me. Just continued right on ignoring me as I picked up the controller and found my way to the character selection screen.


	7. Chapter 7: Shadow

The bits of fluff caught the sun like tiny purple clouds as they piled up on the window sill. It was warm. I always liked being warm. I stopped ripping fleece off my toy to check Ra's progress toward the horizon. Getting there fast, now. Almost behind the building across the street.

Bakura said something behind me. Fuck him.

I pinched and pulled more fleece from the stuffie's arm. I could almost see part of the seam, now. Once I uncovered it, I might work on the thread. Or I might just add more fluff to my pile. It built in the orange light. Higher. Higher. When the height satisfied me, I leaned over and blew on it. The bits scattered, dancing and tumbling in every direction.

"Shadow..."

I looked across the street. Lights glowed in a couple of the windows. I could see silhouettes moving behind the glass.

"Shadow! I know you can hear me!"

I was about to start making a new pile, but a pale hand yanked my toy away. I glared at Bakura. "Ryou gave that to me, it's mine, give it-"

"Where is my armor set?"

I looked at the television, and then at Bakura. My lips curled into a snarl. "I melted it."

"You melted it?" He'd gone beyond pale. Gray?

Gods yes, his rage. For the first time all day, I was finally starting to feel like I mattered. Like I could do something. Impact something. "I scrapped it at the blacksmith."

The plushie squeaked in Bakura's hands, and then bounced off my face almost hard enough to hurt. "Because I wouldn't play the fucking game with you? You fucking brat."

"If you hadn't been ignoring me, you would've been able to stop me!"

"Fucking _gods,_ you _asshole_. I can't believe I actually tried to be _nice_ to you. Are you even capable of being normal?"

It didn't matter. I'd _affected_ him. He couldn't deny me. I'd won. He could yell, shock me, hit me... It didn't matter.

"And Marik. That lazy prick. Why did he have to bring you here? He should've left you rotting in a ditch like the emotional garbage you are."

Garbage? Garbage?! Some amalgamation of unwanted things that could be disregarded? Fuck him! And even _if_ I was, why was everyone always blaming _me_ for it? "It's your fault I exist! If you'd burned with the rest of your fucking village, there wouldn't-"

I didn't see Bakura's hand move. My cheek was suddenly burning. The edges of my vision fogged. I pushed him down. He dragged me with him, yanking at my hair, forcing himself on top of me. I pushed at his throat as he pounded on my chest. My fingers clenched in the shoulder of his shirt and yanked him sideways, unbalancing him just enough to roll over again. I cocked a fist, about to drive it home when I felt the familiar bite of electricity.

My attention snapped to the dining room.

Ryou stood with his lips pressed together and a hand on his hip. "Get off of him," he said.

"He called me garbage!"

"He said I should've burned!"

"You called me garbage first!"

Ryou held up a placating hand. "We'll get to that, but we're not going to get anywhere with the pair of you rolling around on the floor like a couple of angry cats. Separate."

"He hit me," I protested.

"I understand that he was mean to you. You still need to get off of him. I won't tell you again."

I sat back between my heels, letting Bakura scoot away and sit up as well.

"Good." Ryou focused on Bakura. "Why did you feel like you needed to hit him?"

"He said I should've burned with the rest of-"

"Because he called me gar-!"

"Stop interrupting me you impatient-"

"Stop acting like everything is my fault!"

"Oh, goodness," Ryou sighed. Then he turned and headed toward their bedroom.

I watched him, curious. He couldn't be giving up. I looked to Bakura for a clue, but Bakura looked just as confused as I did. "What is he doing?"

"I'm not sure." Bakura spoke slowly. Wary.

Was he going to punish us? What would that be like? He seemed so calm. I couldn't imagine him raising an angry hand. He returned carrying two strips of red fabric. He stopped in front of Bakura first. Bakura shifted onto his knees. When Ryou touched the back of his head, he tilted it forward. Then Ryou tied the strip of fabric across his mouth. It was vivid against Bakura's pale skin and hair, like the bruises on his legs. I stared.

Ryou cupped Bakura's jaw, stroking Bakura's cheek with his thumb. "Go sit on the couch," he said softly.

Then the large, dark eyes were on me. I knew what he wanted. I wanted to see what he would do if I resisted. If he had the guts to force me. He paused for a moment, noting the defiance in my eyes. Reading the challenge. Then he grabbed my hair, pulled me into a kneeling position, and pressed my head down. I felt a startled thrill. This was a game. A game he was playing with me.

"You as well," he said when the fabric was in place. "Sit on the couch."

He'd earned it enough, I guessed. Then again, I might have still resisted if I hadn't wanted to see where this was going. Ryou situated a chair from the dining table on the opposite side of the coffee table and regarded us.

"I will let both of speak, but I will not tolerate shouting over each other. It makes it harder for me to understand, and it's not fair to either of you. I will move your respective gags to let you speak as necessary. If you try to remove your own gag, I will tie you up. Nod if you understand."

I almost wanted to push him. Almost. Just to see what it would take to get him to tie me up. I was beginning to see how he'd managed to cow Bakura, though. I nodded.

"Good. I understand why you're both upset, but I can't imagine that you started saying such hurtful things to each other without provocation. I certainly hope that's not the case. Raise your hand if you want to tell me where the argument started."

I'd expected Bakura to jump at the chance to tell him all about how it was all my fault. He just looked at me, though. He was letting me speak first. I wasn't sure where to start, though. How had I even gotten here? The computer. The game. I raised my hand. Ryou stood in front of me and pulled the gag down around my neck. "He was ignoring me," I protested. "I just wanted help with the game and he was refusing to help me."

"Diablo? Weren't you two playing together?"

"He stopped to do something else and he wouldn't take a break to help me. I only needed five minutes!"

Ryou paused. Ha! Bakura was wrong about him asking why I couldn't entertain myself. I didn't even resist when he pulled the gag up over my mouth and moved to address Bakura.

"Why did you call him garbage? I expect you to know better."

"I know..." Bakura looked down at his hands. "I've been trying to be nice all day, I swear." He looked up. "There were a couple of hours where I _couldn't_ play because I had to work."

"Your module." Ryou nodded.

"I gave him ideas for how to be better at the game by himself, but it wasn't good enough. He decided he wanted to punish me for telling him no by scrapping the armor set I spent months trying to collect. I checked all the characters, I looked in the town inventory, it really is gone. On top of how demanding and selfish he's been all day, I couldn't take it any more. I shouldn't have called him garbage, I didn't know how much it would upset him, but... It's gone! It's going to take me months to get back to where I was, much less finish it now."

Ryou brushed hair behind Bakura's ear. "What do you want?"

"I want the time back. I want the stuff he scrapped back."

Ryou pulled Bakura's gag back up. No. Nonono, he liked Bakura more, of course he did, it wasn't fair, it was never going to be fair. Fucking Bakura. He let me speak first because he knew it wouldn't matter. I glared at both of them. Apparently Ryou took that as a sign to let me speak again. "He was ignoring me! I hate being ignored!"

Ryou smiled that amused little smile and nodded. "Yes. I noticed that."

"You said he was supposed to entertain me!"

"You were bored?"

My answer came more hesitantly this time. "Yes..." Maybe... Maybe Bakura hadn't been wrong? Gods cursed smug bastard!

"How do you want this situation to resolve?"

"I want him to stop being a dick to me!"

"Nothing more specific?"

"I- I don't know! I- I hate... I don't know!" My hands clenched in my lap, digging my nails into my palms. Did it even matter? Was he pretending to be fair to manipulate me?

"It's okay." He put a hand on my shoulder. "That's fine."

The touch warmed me right through the fabric of my shirt. I stared as he gagged me, following him with my eyes as he returned to his chair.

"You need to understand, Shadow," Ryou began. "Spirit and I have an arrangement, wherein he must spend a couple hours a day doing something productive. Any details beyond that are not mine to divulge. Maybe if you're nice to each other, he'll tell you himself." He cocked his head at me, eyes soft. "On the other hand, I don't want you to be bored. Bored minds can wander to dark places, and it's hard. I understand that."

So what was he going to do, then? Where was he going with this? I was waiting for him to tell me to suck it up and shut up, because Bakura was right that I was a brat and I deserved to be punished for it. But he didn't _look_ angry...

"If you want the time back, Spirit, and you need something to do, Shadow, we will do this." He looked at Bakura. "Tomorrow I want you to teach Shadow how to do your chores. Laundry. Cleaning. Cooking isn't something I expect him to pick up in a day, but you can teach him basics like preparing frozen and instant meals to help with lunch. Then at least you'll have more time to play the game in the future. I know it's not perfect, but there's not much else to be done about it."

Bakura nodded.

"That said, you are not entirely off the hook. I know you can be adversarial, even if you don't consciously mean it. Try to mind your tone."

Sighing, Bakura nodded again.

"You may remove your gag. Please go fix dinner."

Bakura obeyed without saying a word, though he did run his fingers through Ryou's hair on the way by. Ryou smiled after him, and then looked at me.

"You may also take off your gag."

I untied it slowly. I wasn't sure how to feel about this 'resolution.' I'd never done chores before. But if Bakura had to teach me how to do things, he couldn't ignore me. That seemed like a good thing. Maybe? Making lunch could be fun. I enjoyed cutting the vegetables.

"How are you feeling?" Ryou asked.

The question surprised me. "I don't know," I admitted. When Ryou stared at me patiently, I added, "I _was_ worried. I don't know now."

"Why were you worried?" Ryou asked.

"I thought you were going to agree with him."

"Does that mean you're happy?"

I paused. "I think so? I'm glad that he has to spend time with me tomorrow."

Ryou frowned slightly. Had I said something wrong?

"Shadow..." He fiddled with his hair. "What if people wanted to spend time with you? Not to police you, not because they're scared of what you might do. Just because they want to be around you."

I laughed. Then I realized he didn't look amused at all. His frowned actually deepened. "But people don't want to. They've never wanted to. Why would they..." I trailed off. Thinking about it didn't feel good.

"Because you make them want to spend time with you," Ryou started.

"But I do!" I insisted, getting frustrated.

"By being nice," Ryou finished.

"But- But they can say no if I..."

"Sometimes they might. Is that really the worst thing in the world?"

"Yes! I hate being ignored! I'm so tired of being ignored and pushed aside and repressed! I don't like it!" My voice cracked. "I'm real! I matter!"

Ryou stood, retrieved my toy, and joined me on the couch. I snatched it out of his hands, squeezing it until the squeaker was empty.

"What about hobbies?" Ryou asked. "Do you have any hobbies that you enjoy? Anything you ever wanted to try?"

I pressed the plushie to my mouth, thinking. "One time I threw a bunch of Marik and Ishizu's nail polish bottles on the floor." The toy muffled my voice, but I liked the way in felt on my face. "They exploded all over the place. I liked the colors."

"There's an idea," Ryou smiled brightly. The same sort of smile he'd used when he suggested I take a bath. It looked a bit less condescending this time, though. "Come with me."

Curious about how he thought breaking things seemed like a good idea, I followed him. He had given me a toy to tear apart. He might have something that he'd let me break.

He took me to their bedroom. I hadn't been in here yet. The first thing I noticed was the bed. The foot and head boards were made of elaborately twirled and swirled metal bars. As my eyes wandered the looping patterns, they settled on a pair of dangling cuffs.

I thought of Ryou standing over me as he yanked my hair. I thought of shoving him onto the bed and yanking his head back to expose his throat to my teeth.

But he wouldn't take that shit from me, would he? He'd jab me with a taser so I couldn't move and cuff my hands so I couldn't pull his hair and gag me so I couldn't bite his throat.

Gods.

I watched him dig through some white plastic storage drawers. Gags. Cuffs. Rulers.

"I don't have very many colors right now, but we'll have time to get more this weekend if you like." He smiled at me, holding up a small bottle of yellow paint. I focused on it slowly. Ryou cocked an eye brow at me.

He knew. He knew, he knew, he fucking knew. I pressed the plushie to my heating face.

No. Why did I care if he knew? So fucking what if he knew?

What _if_ he _knew_?

"Shadow?"

"Yes," I said.

Ryou smiled and nodded once. "I can cover the whole kitchen table with paper, so you can be as messy as you want. It will be fun."

 _Messy..._ I bit the plushie's head, nodding. He'd shock me. He'd just shock me.


	8. Chapter 8: Bakura

I watched water push the glob of toothpaste down the dark drain, gripping the edge of the sink with both hands. It was weird. Once the thoughts got into my head. The things that triggered them. I'd held it together through dinner, mostly through sheer stubborn will. I was already embarrassed that Shadow made me snap as much as I did. I didn't snap. I didn't. It wasn't a thing I did. That was a thing for _Shadow_ to do. Not _me._ I was collected. I was calculating.

I closed my eyes and took a breath. A warm touch landed between my shoulders, rubbing circles. I opened my eyes on Ryou's reflection.

"Hi." He gave me a wan smile. Comforting. Empathetic.

I didn't trust myself to speak. My throat closed on words. My stomach twisted.

His arm slipped around my waist and pulled me closer. His voice lowered as he put his chin on my shoulder. "I love you."

I nodded, leaning into him. His other arm wrapped across my belly.

"I'm glad you're here," he whispered.

His lips brushed my throat, melting the lump there. I gulped. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was still so hard."

Ryou shook his head. His hair tickled my cheek. "I never expect it to be easy."

"You needed me to help you and I made it worse."

"You always do the best you can. I'm glad you're here."

I turned around, hugging him almost as hard as I did the morning I appeared in his bed.

"I just want you to be mine," Ryou said, "like you always were. Like you always will be."

I was always his. Even when I was his parasite. Even when I thought I belonged to myself. Even when I thought I belonged to Zorc. He'd pulled me back, because I'm his. I was never going to be alone again, because I'm his.

His hands cupped my cheeks, making me look at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay," I said.

He smiled, stroking a thumb across my mouth. "This gets you in trouble a lot."

The warmth in my throat trickled into my belly. Glowing. I grinned. "Yeah."

"It can get you out of trouble, too."

The warmth seeped to my groin. "Landlord..."

"You looked so good kneeling for me."

I sank to my knees. "Like this?"

"Yes, exactly like that." He unbuttoned his jeans.

I leaned in, mouth open, so fucking ready. He sighed as I stroked his cock with my lips.

After a bit, he breathed, "Take this."

I fumbled for the hair tie without looking. Without stopping. Though I did switch from stroking to sucking as I raked my hair into a messy knot.

"Spirit," Ryou said.

My eyes flicked upward.

"I love you," Ryou repeated. Earnest. Sincere.

I smiled around his cock, and then kept blowing him.


	9. Chapter 9: Shadow

**Author Note: I had to divide these last two chapters into two short parts because of the perspective shift. The next chapter will be a more normal length.**

I stared at the bars, knees curled to my chest. I'd resisted as much as I could. I'd resisted brushing my teeth until Ryou held me down and did it for me. I'd sat on the toilet for a long time trying to make small talk while Ryou watched and gave me one word answers. It didn't take me long to decide he knew that I was dragging my feet.

It was time out for proving that I couldn't be left alone. I chewed the plushie's head as I thought about the fight with Bakura. On one hand Bakura had to spend time with me tomorrow. On the other hand, I was stuck in the cage now. The cage was so fucking boring. Why couldn't he just spank me with a ruler or something? It would be more interesting, at least.

He knew I wanted him to spank me. He must have known. The way he looked at me in the bedroom when I'd been fantasizing about him. He knew. This was a punishment. I wasn't supposed to like it. Bakura had said something like that.

Bedroom. Handcuffs.

My cock felt hard between my thighs. I rocked, breathing faster. The tension increased. I shifted onto my back, letting my knees fall open against the cage walls. Then I reached into my underwear and grabbed my dick. It didn't feel quite like it did when Bakura grabbed me in the shower.

That's what I needed to do. I needed to get them to wash me again. I thought of Bakura's hands slicking over my torso as I struggled naked and wet underneath him. I tried to remember the way Bakura's face looked framed with sheets of dripping hair. At the time I'd been too pissed at him to focus on his face, though.

His gods cursed mouth. That smug grin. That cynical bite. So beautiful gagged. So manageable. On his knees, looking up at Ryou like he was about to suck his dick. Silence himself of Ryou's cock.

What did Ryou smell like? What did Ryou _taste_ like?

What would Bakura's mouth feel like?

I paused long enough to lick my palm. Salty and sticky. Then I squeezed hard and stroked slow, imagining Bakura's mouth moving on my shaft. I tightened my grip as I slid my fist to the base. I'd slide it down his throat. All the way down.

Would he gag? What would that feel like?

With my free hand, I shoved two fingers as far into my mouth as I could stand, to see what my own throat felt like. Until the urge to cough became unbearable. Yes. Yes, that's what I wanted to do to Bakura.

It wasn't easy in the limited space, but I shimmied my clothes down around my thighs, giving myself enough room for both hands. Three spitty fingers squeezed the base of my cock. My other fist pulsed around the head, trying to simulate how his throat might feel struggling around it.

Or maybe he wouldn't struggle. Maybe Ryou had him trained to deepthroat without gagging. Maybe he'd be a smooth, tight, slick experience.

I couldn't decide which fantasy I preferred. I let my mind wander freely, stroking faster. It was hard to find a good speed and rhythm in the limited space. Frustrating, but the challenge gave me something to do, and I liked that. I panted and growled and squirmed until I finished.

That did it. That relaxed me enough to slip into surprisingly pleasant dreams.


	10. Chapter 10: Shadow

Something clanged on the bars. My eyes slitted open, focusing slowly in the low light. Bakura stood over me, holding a wooden spoon.

"Finally," Bakura said. "You were out hard." He paused, pressing his lips together. "I didn't mean to say it that way."

When I tried to sit up, I realized my cock was still out.

"Look, the door is open. Just... wash your hands before you help with breakfast, right?"

His voice sounded strained. I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed or trying not to laugh. Probably the second one, knowing him. Fucker. I felt him watching me as I crawled out and straightened up. His eyes dropped to my shirt as I stretched.

"Do you want to change?"

I looked at the white stains on the dark fabric. Then I looked at Bakura. "It's not funny."

"I never said it was funny."

"You're thinking it."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Shadow, I swear to the pantheon that all I'm thinking about is teaching you to cook breakfast. You-"

He stopped when I took off my shirt and tossed it on top of the cage. His eyes flicked to my abs, and then wandered slowly back to my face. I snorted. "Lying to the gods."

Bakura crossed his arms and slitted his eyes. "What were _you_ thinking about?"

He wouldn't shame me so easily. I held his gaze. "Gagging _you_ with my cock."

Air hissed dismissively between Bakura's teeth as his eyes flicked toward the kitchen. " _I_ don't gag."

I glared. "Whatever, as long as it shuts you up for a while."

Bakura started to laugh, but he stopped at a grin. "I get that a lot."

Of course he did. But I had the answer to my question now, didn't I? He didn't gag. I stuck that one on the list right below the bruises on the backs of his legs.

My stomach growled. "I want more bacon," I said as I followed Bakura to the kitchen.

"I figured. Hands first. Always wash your hands before you handle other people's food." He hesitated with his hands under the water. "And, um," he cleared his throat, "after you handle raw meat..."

"Gods curse you!"

"I had to say it! It's true!"

Fucker.

While I washed and dried my hands, he pulled a pack of frozen bacon out of the freezer and explained how to defrost it in the microwave. It seemed like a lot of waiting and work to me. I frowned. "Won't it just melt when you cook it?"

"Don't fry frozen things. Water tends to make hot oil explode every where," Bakura said.

My eyes widened. "Explode?"

"Gods..." Bakura pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't tell me I have to remind you that getting splattered with boiling oil is a bad thing."

"Yeah, but... explode? With fire and stuff? From water and oil?"

"We can find a video after I go over all of your chores. Will that sate your curiosity?"

"Maybe." The microwave beeped. Finally! Bakura talked me through the next few steps. Just a little bit of oil. Fry on both sides. The bacon was easy. I got frustrated with the eggs and scrambled them out of spite, though. Bakura made cracking and splitting them look so fucking easy. God's cursed thief hands...

"Good morning." Ryou appeared, pecking Bakura on the cheek. Smiling and nodding at me.

My grip on the spatula tightened.

"Is everything all right?" Ryou asked.

Me? He was asking me? He was looking at me. Not side-eyeing me as he asked Bakura, either. Looking at me. Asking me. Why did I feel so nervous? Everything was fine. Except for the stupid eggs. "Flipping eggs is hard," I said.

Ryou nodded. "I never quite mastered that one, either." He shrugged. "It's a good thing there are so many different ways to cook eggs. We can all find one that works for us."

That smile. It made me want to chew on the plushie. The plushie was still in the cage in the other room. I didn't notice I had the spatula in my mouth until I saw the corners of Ryou's smile twitch, as if they couldn't decide to go up or down. I hid the spatula behind my back and scowled in a random direction. Chair? I was scowling at the chair, then. Until Ryou sat in it. He was looking at Bakura. Smiling at Bakura. Talking to Bakura. I couldn't focus on what he was saying, though.

Bakura poked my shoulder. "Do you remember where the bowls are?"

Only vaguely, but I pretended I did so I could turn my back on both of them. I couldn't look at that smile. It hurt. In a good way. Like it was hard to breathe, but because I was excited. I didn't think I was horny, though. I just... wanted Ryou to keep smiling at me like that. Keep being interested in what I was thinking and doing, but in the way that made him smile at me like that.

Breakfast went fast. Apparently the hour rule didn't apply at breakfast. Probably because Ryou was in a hurry to get to work.

Bakura showed me the laundry next. Two small machines, one stacked on the other, in a closet in the hall. He retrieved a basket of laundry from the bedroom and started to explain something about sorting colors. He'd lost me, though. I was entirely too curious about the scrap of blue fabric he'd just tossed into a pile of other light colors. It was a thong. Did Bakura wear thongs? I tried to think back to the first day. I'd seen him strip in the bathroom. I must have. The bruises on his legs and my anger at the whole situation had distracted me from what kind of underwear he'd pulled off, though.

"I know what you're thinking, and I've already inventoried all the underwear, so you can stop thinking it," Bakura interrupted.

"I- I wasn't!" I snapped.

Bakura raised an eyebrow at me. "Really?"

I stomped my foot. "I _wasn't_ thinking about _taking_ it, stop looking at me like that!"

Bakura put up his hands defensively. "Okay. Fine. Good. Stop staring and help me sort, then."

As I started poking through the laundry, a thought occurred to me. Ryou had suggested this, and never once warned me about _not_ stealing underwear. He either trusted me not to, or didn't mind if I did. "Did he tell you to make sure I didn't steal anything?" I asked.

Bakura looked up. Surprisingly, an almost sheepish look flickered on his face. He cleared his throat and went back to sorting. "I made that decision myself. Habitually cynical, it's nothing personal..."

"But he would be angry if I did..."

"No... Anger's easy. A person gets angry at you, you get angry at them, you fight, and it's easy, because it feels like they deserved it."

Yeah, that made sense.

"With landlord, it's worse than angry."

Worse than angry? What was worse than angry? I frowned, confused. Ryou was stern, but I couldn't picture him being angry in the way I got angry. In the way Marik's dad used to get angry. Screaming, hitting, breaking things. How could he possibly get worse than that? What was worse than that?

"He's too nice to get angry. He gets... Sad? Disappointed? And then you feel guilty, because he didn't deserve for you to disappoint him. Because he's too nice to be angry. It's hard to explain..."

I snorted. "Guilty? It's worse because he makes you feel guilty?"

Bakura shrugged. "I told you. It's hard to explain."

I thought of how he didn't immediately shoot me down when I talked about breaking things and making messes. Of how he could've blamed me for everything yesterday and didn't. "He changed you."

"He gave me what I needed to change myself. Oh, don't roll your fucking eyes at me. If you didn't know exactly what I was talking about, you wouldn't have been blushing like a teenager just because he smiled at you."

"Shut up. I wasn't blushing because he smiled at me." I was just flustered because he looked _at_ me and talked _to_ me. Totally different. Fuck Bakura. Bakura didn't believe me. I could tell he didn't. But he didn't chase the potential argument. Because Ryou told him to try to be nicer to me? I bit my lip. "What?"

"I didn't say anything," Bakura said.

"What did he do? What happened? You weren't always like this."

Bakura laughed. "I was still a shit when I first came back. A lot of little things changed slowly. Mostly being able to talk." He paused. "One thing does stand out as a tipping point. I'd... I had problems with shop lifting. When I had the chance to take something, I took it, because I didn't know when the chance would come around again. It was a survival habit for a very long time and it seemed harmless until I got caught."

"What did you take?"

"Something stupid. A box of pocky, a toothbrush, something like that. A dumb rentacop took me to the security office to turn out my pockets. They took my picture for their stupid board, told me I was banned from the store, and watched me until Landlord came to get me. It wasn't anything dramatic." Bakura snorted. "I thought they were stupid for busting me with something so small when I'd already stolen so much more from them. I spent the ride home thinking about how I'd gotten caught and how to avoid it in the future. Fuck the Millennium items, but the Ring could be useful sometimes... I didn't even notice how quiet landlord was being until we got home."

"We'd already been toying with the dom thing a bit so I wasn't too surprised when he put me across his lap and started spanking me, except that he wasn't being playful about it. He kept grilling me on what I'd taken, how long it had been going on, what I'd been thinking, why I'd done it. At first I thought he was just angry that I'd done something illegal. I'd never seen him angry before, so I didn't know what to expect."

Not angry... "Was he sad?" I asked.

Smiling weakly, Bakura nodded. "Yeah. I didn't quite get it until he asked how I thought _he_ felt, seeing me standing there with a pissed off security guard. Sad, yeah, and scared. Scared for me. Scared of being alone. He made me swear up and down that I'd never do it again. When I saw how much he cared about me, I honestly did want to stop. He's been helping me stop."

"How?"

"Whenever I see something I want, I have to ask him if I can have it. We talk through why I want it, and he usually buys it for me, as long as it's not something unreasonable. Learning that I have someone looking out for me, for once in my entire existence, has been..." Bakura shrugged. "I don't care if being submissive looks weak, or undignified, or whatever. He makes me feel secure. Turns out I really needed it."

I wondered what that might feel like. Really feeling really safe. I dealt with Marik's problems. When he felt like he was in danger. I was always ready for a fight. Always looking for where the fight might be coming from. Always ready to defend myself. What was it like to be in a quiet room and _not_ be waiting for the screaming to start? If Ryou could teach Bakura to feel that way, could he teach me to feel that way?

Nothing new happened during the morning. Bakura showed me how to vacuum, and then, true to his word, used his laptop to find a video of someone dropping an ice cube in a deep fryer. The resulting cloud of steam and roiling bubbles hypnotized me. Before I knew it, I'd wandered down a whole rabbit hole of things exploding and shattering and melting in slow motion. I didn't even notice how much time had passed until Bakura poked me in the shoulder and told me it was time to make lunch.

Bakura was showing me how to use the rice cooker to steam dumplings when Ryou wandered into the kitchen. Thin shoulders slumped as he rubbed his face.

"Landlord?" Bakura asked, concerned.

"It's fine." Ryou leaned one hand on the table. "Do we have anything sweet?"

In a smooth, fluid movement, Bakura glided up behind him, latched his arms around Ryou's middle, and nuzzled his face into Ryou's neck. Ryou squirmed, laughing as he grabbed at Bakura's wrists.

"You serious cornball!" He twisted around and pushed at Bakura's chest, but he was smiling. "That fruit was so low, you'd have to bend over for it."

"You know me," Bakura winked. "I'm all about bending over."

Ryou forced his smiling lips into a pout, poking the tip of Bakura's nose. "Sweets. Not cheese."

"Yeah, I got it." Bakura released Ryou, and then opened a cupboard.

I wanted it. That. That thing they had. That was it. That's why it hurt. That looked pleasant. I wanted it.

They didn't resent each other. Marik resented that I didn't have his outside scars. I resented that he didn't have my inside scars, because he could pretend everything was okay. Maybe it was okay for him, except that I was here reminding him that everything wasn't okay. He'd thrown his problems away with me, and they'd come back with me, too.

I remembered the way he looked at me when I woke up next to him. I'd never forgive him for it. My problems were his problems. I'd been determined to make sure that he didn't get to fucking escape this time.

Except I wasn't his problem any more. He'd pawned me off again. Pawned his problems off again.

"There's no use standing around waiting," Ryou said.

I looked at him, sitting at the table with a purple mochi ball between his fingers. A little plastic tray sat on the table in front of him. There were two more left in it.

"You did your chores all morning, right?" Ryou tilted his head toward an empty chair. "You can sit until the dumplings are done."

Bakura was already sitting, idly chewing his own mochi ball. I eased into the chair next to Ryou. He slid the plastic container closer to me.

"It's taro flavored," he said.

I knew taro. The treat was amazingly chewy, though. Gummy, but so soft. Sweet. Yes. I wondered if he'd let me have the extra one.

"Does the PDA bother you?" Ryou asked.

A little, but not because I didn't like seeing it. "No." But I guessed his next question. He'd noticed I was upset. He wanted to know why. Because he wanted to listen to me. "Marik's an- I don't- Did he tell you what he did when- when I got here? Back? Or was he fucking manipulative about that too?"

"When we compared notes, he mentioned that he was scared. He knew you'd be angry about being sent to the Shadow Realm."

"No guilt," I growled, clenching my hand until my nails dug in painfully. "Anger. Fear. Disgust. I spent years suffering more than he could imagine, and all he wanted was for me to go away. I wouldn't let him do it again. I am what I am so that he can be what he is, and he was never even the slightest bit..." Why was I always leaving that stupid plushie in the other room? I wanted to bite its head off.

"You're separate now," Ryou said. "If he makes you so unhappy, why are you still clinging to him?"

"I want him to suffer as much as I did," I snapped, despite Ryou's gentle tone. He only watched me, like he was waiting for more. "I want him to know what it was like. Every time. Every time he was scared or hurting, he shoved me into it. Every time he was happy he couldn't give me the- And I took it for him! I took it _for_ him and he doesn't care. He doesn't even have to acknowledge what a piece of shit his dad was. How there were things Odion and Ishizu could have stopped but didn't. Odion..." My eyes burned. I felt sick. "Marik was so pissed at Odion after the ritual, but baldy scars his face a little and suddenly he's the fucking hero. I..." A lump clogged my throat. My voice shook. "Marik barely even had to deal with half the ritual. It was me. He has the scars. The recovery was painful for both of us. But he never even felt the worst of it. And he won't even acknowledge all the shit I did for him. Literally _for_ him."

I couldn't talk any more, so I just looked at Ryou. At Bakura. They were blurry. The Ryou blur put a hand on mine.

"That sounds awful," the Ryou blur said, and he sounded like he meant it. "You only want him to appreciate you, and it feels like he's doing everything he can to hate you."

Yes. Yes, that was it. Exactly. He listened. He listened and he understood. I squeezed Ryou's hand. It wasn't the plushie, and I couldn't bite it, because he'd stop me and I wasn't mad at him anyway, but it was warm and soft. Ryou was warm and soft. On the outside and the inside.

This was better. I couldn't, I refused, to believe Marik left me here because he knew it would be better. He never dismissed me to places because he knew it would be better for me. Just easier for him to not have to deal with everything came with me. But this _was_ better. Two days and it was already better. So fuck him.

The timer on the rice cooker beeped, reminding me that I was hungry. I looked at the last mochi ball. "I want that," I said.

Ryou smiled. "I think you're forgetting a word."

I stared at him for a moment. "Um... Can I have it?"

"The word is 'please,'" Ryou said.

"Please I want it?" I tried.

Bakura snerked, but I ignored him because Ryou's smile widened. "I suppose that's close enough for now. Here."

I shoved the whole thing in my mouth at once this time. The soft skin tore between my teeth, hemorrhaging sweet filling. I was happy. Not cold self-satisfaction. Not even warm self-satisfaction. Warm happiness. It felt good.


End file.
